Coach Tash Bradley

Summer is just around the corner (hands up who’s excited!) and any member who has been with us through the summer months previously knows what’s in store at SF come November.

Bikram CrossFit
It doesn’t matter whether you’re an early morning, mid-day, or late afternoon wod-killer you will be subject to the beauty that is working out in a warehouse in blistering heat.

CrossFitters love to rise to this challenge. Getting your sweat on is an awesome feeling. However, pushing intensity during hot weather does call for a little responsibility regarding your hydration status. If you turn up to a session already dehydrated, you run the risk of not only significantly reduced performance (20-30% reduced capacity) but injury (including rhabdomyolosis, read about it in this article).

There are some very simple things you can do to ensure appropriate hydration, peak performance, and an injury-free body during the summer months;

Drink 400-600mL of water in the 1-2 hours prior to your session. If you’re a 5:30am or 6:30am-er, you need to make sure you’re hydrated prior going to bed the night before AND have at least 200-300mL before you start training.

If it’s a strength session or a WOD lasting more than 10 minutes, keep your water bottle handy. Its worth adding either a squeeze of citrus juice with 2-3 salt granules, or an electrolyte formula like Hydrolyte or Endura to support uptake and replacement of what you’re losing through sweat.

Regardless of the session, make sure you finish drinking your bottle of water (600-700mL) before the hour is up. We also have Aqualyte available in the vending machine, full of electrolytes.

Re-hydration in the hours following your workout is crucial. If you want to determine exactly how much fluid you need to replace, weigh your self before and after your workout. The difference in grams is what you need to replace in milliliters over the next few hours. Again, adding some electrolytes will help with uptake.

The water you drink surrounding your session is additional to the amount you should normally consume in a day (roughly 1.5-2L, more for some in summer).

If you do come to training feeling dehydrated, SCALE YOUR WORKOUT. Talk to the coaches. We are here to help you, and you can still have a great session without making your condition worse (or getting an injury). If we see you struggling and scale you mid workout, keep calm and finish the workout, then accept that you need to work on your pre-workout hydration if you want to perform your best.

Here’s to an awesome summer of following the Fitness blog and optimal performance at SF

Originally published in our monthly newsletter SeptemberÂ 2014. Like what you are reading? Sign up for our newsletter at the top right of this page.